Heartbeat
by GlitteringNights
Summary: RobStar Week, Heartbeat. Slade threatens the city with several bombs. Can the Titans disarm them in time?


****I'm posting this one day early because I won't have access to a computer the actual day that this prompt goes with.****  
 ** **I do not own the Teen Titans.****

The Titans had been at odds with Slade for the past two hours. The madman would stop at nothing this time, claiming to actually hide several bombs around Jump City.

"They'll blow the city to bits if you don't stop them," He had said, almost as if he was bored. And with that, Slade had disappeared.

"Titans," Robin shouted, "We need to split up. Cyborg, I need you to scan for any of the bombs. If you find anything, let us know and send the coordinates. Raven, can you sense anything?"

The empath nodded, "Only one right now. I'll go after it."

"So far the sensors are not picking any up. I might need to be closer to them. Once it's done, I'll send coordinates to the bombs closest to everyone's location." Cyborg said, tapping away at his arm.

"Good. Starfire, Beast Boy, take to the sky. I'll go after Slade," Robin put his fist in his hand. "Titans! Go!"

They all launched into action, Starfire taking flight, Beast Boy turning into a pterodactyl, flying in the opposite direction Starfire went. Raven teleported off to wherever the bomb she had located was, and Cyborg hopped in the T-Car, speeding off. All was left was Robin, who ran towards the path Slade may have taken.

After some time of pursuing Slade, Robins communicator rang.

"Robin." It was Cyborg. "Raven and I disabled two bombs. We have Starfire and Beast Boy at the coordinates of the other two near their locations. There's one about 100 feet to your left."

"Alright, I'm on it." Robin said as he looked down at the directions on his communicator, turning to run the needed way.

He found the bomb, it was fairly simple in design. Robin had come across his fair shares of bombs while working in Gotham, and he defused it in a matter of a few minutes.

Robin spoke through his communicator, "I've diffused the bomb near me, though I've lost track of Slade. Everyone, report."

"The bomb I have come into contact with has been diffused," Starfire replied.

"I've found another one, I'm on my way towards it." Came Cyborgs voice.

"Just finished with mine," Raven answered.

"I uh... I think mine is diffused..." Came Beast Boys squeaky voice.

"You think?!" Cyborg shouted through the communicator. "Did you disconnect the wires I told you to?"

"Yeah..."

"Then it's fine! Keep moving." Cyborg said. "Starfire, the last ones closest to you. We don't haven much time, I sent you the directions."

"I am on my way," Starfire clicked off the communicator after.

—

Cyborg had gotten to his bomb in time, disabling it. Only the bomb Starfire had flown towards was left. She spoke with the team through the communicator, saying it took some time to locate, even with the coordinates considering it was hidden in the heavy undergrowth of one of Jump City's forests in the dead of night.

Everyone else had regrouped together while they waited on Starfire. Suddenly, everyone's communicators lit up. Robin answered, the other three Titans crowding around him.

"Starfire? Did you diffuse the bomb?"

"I..." Her voice sounded incredibly shaky, the communicators feed was a mess of static, catching glimpses of Starfires startled expression.

Robins masked creased in worry. "Starfire! What's going on?"

"I...I fear I am too late. When I arrived, the bomb seemed to already be activated. I attempted to disarm it but... I cannot."

"Starfire! We're coming to you, hold on. Try to get out of proximity!" Robin yelled through the device.

"It is too late... I am going to attempt to move the bomb farther out from the city...I...I am so sorry." They all heard Starfires stifled sobs from the other end of the transmission.

"STARFIRE!" Robin screamed before the Tameranean girl clicked off her communicator. He dropped to the ground.

"Raven," he croaked, "can you get us there? Now." Robin turned to her.

"Robin.." The empath thought about how to approach the situation. "It's too risky. We can't get to her in time."

"What do you mean, too risky?!" Robin yelled, starting to charge at her in pure fury, not in an attempt to hurt her, but to get her to change her mind. Cyborg held him back. "She is our friend! We can just leave her to die!"

"We'll die if we go after her! Don't you understand, Robin?"

The rest of the Titans looked uneasy. "Robin," Cyborg started.

 _Started._ He was interrupted as a loud boom was heard miles away.

"No!" Robin shouted, easily breaking out of Cyborgs loosened grip before running towards the explosion.

Sticks and leaves crunched under his feet as he ran as fast as he could. He pulled out his communicator, trying to get ahold of Starfire. "Star! Starfire! Answer me! Please. Please, are you alright?" He screamed.

After some time of running, pure adrenaline pulsing through his veins. Pushing himself to go faster, faster.

He stopped short at the large mound of debris in front of him. He surveyed the area, in search for Starfire. Robins heart was beating at an alarming rate, but all he could think about was Starfire.

The boy started digging through the rubble, pushing aside dirt and sticks. Trees were blown to bits, the wood split at the base.

Robin kept digging, shouting Starfires name, in hopes he'd get a reply. In hopes she'd be alright.

She was an alien, her skin was tougher than any of theirs. She's withstood blasts before, so why not this?"

The other three members arrived soon after in the T-Car, and quickly climbed out.

Robins voice was hoarse. "Help me find her, or get out of the way."

Raven took to an attempt to sense her heartbeat, Cyborg tried to locate her pulse on his sensors, and Beast Boy transformed into a blood hound to sniff out her scent.

Beast Boy found the general area in which her scent was strongest, but couldn't find much more. Cyborg and Raven had come up with nothing despite their best efforts.

"Robin," Cyborg approached him gently, setting a hand on his shoulder. "We can't get a lock on her pulse. I'm sorry."

Robin stared at him blankly before registering what he said. His body was rigid, his hands clutched around a large piece of stone.

"No..." He whispered, his gaze emptily gazing at the rock in his hand. "No, no. I can't lose someone I care about again." And with that, with all the determination in the world, he kept digging.

Eventually a strand of red hair shone through. It gave Robin hope, and he shucked more debris out of the way.

As he kept digging, he saw more of her body. Bruised, scratched, but intact.

She wasn't breathing. He tried CPR, nothing. He tried everything he knew. Robin saw Raven kneel next to her, perhaps trying to use her limited healing powers. And before he knew it, he started crying.

The other Titans were almost as dismal as he was. When there was no sign of life in the poor girl, Robin heard Beast Boy sniffle. Cyborgs face was solemn.

Soon, the tears were too much. He threw off his mask and let the tears stream down his face as he burying his head into Starfires hair, his arms wrapped around her

"Please...Starfire, dont leave me. Please." He wept. He wasn't fast enough, he could've saved her. He failed once again. Like when his parents died, he failed, and now he let everyone else down again.

"A pity."

Everyone jolted at the voice. They were all on edge as they looked over at the man who spoke.

Blinded by pure fury, Robin charged at Slade, locking him against a tree that hadn't been destroyed by the blast. Robin pulled out a bird-a-rang and held it to Slades throat.

"You caused this!" He screamed. "She's dead because of _you._ Give me one good reason not to bash your skull in _right now!"_ His eyes were ablaze amidst the tears that fell.

"Dear boy," Slade said, looking him dead in the eye. "I didn't kill her. You simply were too late."

Slades comment only further infuriated Robin. He presses the bird-a-rang against the collar of Slades uniform. "No...No! You...You killed her! You detonated the bomb before it was supposed to go off! You're a murderer!" He screeched, pain clouding all of his senses. Robin wrapped his hand around Slades jaw.

"Robin." Raven said quietly.

"Go back to the tower. Bring Starfire with you. I'll meet you there." He snarled.

"No... Robin," It was Cyborg who spoke now. Robin looked at him, his face still twisted in pain and anguish. Cyborg was tapping on the screen in his arm. "Robin, there's a heartbeat."

His eyes turned wide, his face the embodiment of true shock. Robin slammed Slades head against the tree before glaring at him. "Get out of my face." He spat.

Robin rushed over to Starfire, kneeling by her head. He slowly lifted the top half of her body to set on his lap. He leaned over her chest in an attempt to hear her heart.

It took some time, and the sound wasn't consistant, but he heard it. And he started crying, again. Except, these were tears of joy. She was _alive._

Robin stood up, taking the wounded girl in his arms. "Let's get her proper medical attention."

—

Cyborg had hooked the girl up to multiple machines in the med bay. She was unconscious for multiple days.

Starfire groggily awoke. Her head hurt, her body ached. She still had some difficulty breathing, but she was awake.

It took her eyes some adjustment to get used to the dim light of the room. She looked at the door and saw the faint silhouettes of some of her friends.

"I don't know much about Tameraneans natural healing process, but there's the change she might heal faster." Starfire identified the voice as Cyborgs.

"It's a miracle she's alive," Now it was Ravens, "If she was a human she would be dead. My power would've been useless."

"I'm worried about Robin, too." Beast Boy. "Dude, did you _see_ how he reacted? He almost  
killed Slade! And he probably would have."

Hearing that made Starfire uneasy. She didn't remember much, mainly just the explosion, then, nothingness.

But if Robin almost _killed_ Slade? That, was bone chilling.

Starfire looked around the room, and saw Robin sleeping in the chair next to her hospital bed. His hand was out stretched. She assume he had taken her hand in his while she was unconscious. His mask was draped on the arm of the chair next to him.

She did not wish to wake him up, but she also didn't want to cause any commotion by calling their friends in.

The alien shifted slightly in the bed to sit up straight, making sure not to tangle any of the medical equipment that was attached to her.

Obviously, her attempt at being quiet didn't work. Robin stirred next to her, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he looked at her.

Once his eyes focused, he lit up.

"Starfire!" He exclaimed. "Starfire! You're alive!"

"It appears I am," she smiled at him. "Though, I am quite sore from this ordeal."

Robin nodded. "I understand."

She took note of his blotchy skin, his red eyes. "You have been...crying."

Robin laughed softly. "Well, yeah. I thought I had lost you."

Starfire frowned. "I am sorry for putting you through such things. But I did not wish for anyone in Jump City to be in harms way because I was unable to think fast enough."

The teen took her hand. "No, Star, it's not your fault. You did what you thought best in the moment. But please, don't almost die on me again."

She shook her head with a faint smile, "I shall do my best not to."

Robin stood up and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You need to rest." He put his mask back onto his face.

He started walking out, but Starfire stopped him, needing to ask a question that had plagued her mind. "Robin," she said, "Did you almost kill Slade?"

He looked back at her nervously. "Star...I, I thought you died. Because of him. I was so angry that I... I lashed out."

"I... see." Starfire said, thinking.

Robin sighed. "I wouldn't actually kill him. It was a stupid mistake, I was blinded by rage. I'm sorry."

"No...No, I understand," Starfire replied.

"Get some rest. I'll be back later to make sure you're okay."

Starfire watched his figure fade, and was soon lulled into a dreamless sleep.

 ** **I was going for a more adult theme with this one. I originally had the idea for a pregnancy, but I thought it'd be more DickKory rather than RobStar. So, instead, I opted for angst. Haha I'm sorry. I feel like Slade manipulating Robin into thinking it was his fault because he didn't get to her in time would indeed break and infuriate him enough to where Robin would actually consider killing him. Just his loosing himself if Starfire died, he'd definitely go off the rails. Maybe not murder every criminal, but Im sure he'd rough Slade up pretty bad and just lose a part of himself and isolate and cut off all connections from the other three. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it.****


End file.
